Blending in: The art of hiding in plain sight

A large, Bornean stick insect is seen climbing on a branch. Stick insects are usually long insects that use their shape and color as a natural camouflage to blend in on branches. Zuma/Newscom/File

A venomous American copperhead viper conceals itself under leaf cover. This is an example of a Southern copperhead, found in the American south, along the Gulf of Mexico and as far north as Illinois. Newscom/File

A lion looks through dry brush at the Tsavo West National park in the south of Kenya on August 21. Kenya's lion population has been dropping by an average 100 lions each year since 2002, the Kenya Wildlife Service announced last week, warning that the big cats could be extinct in the next two decades. Roberto Schmidt/AFP

An Asian horned frog can be seen hiding in leaf litter in Southeast Asia. The frog's color and unusually shaped eyebrows allow it to conceal itself among leaves littering the forest floor. Newscom/File

Young great horned owls spread their wings in a defensive pose. Great horned owls are the most common owl found in the Americas, ranging from the subarctic to South America. The owl's eponymous 'horns' are in fact tufts of feathers, the shape of which help the owl to camouflage itself in trees. Newscom/File

A leaf-mimic praying mantis is seen in Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica. Praying mantises often hide themselves with bodies the color and shape of live or dead leaves, and sometimes by disguising themselves as other insects, like ants. Newscom/File

A Mexican Vine Snake, or Oxybelis aeneus, is seen concealed in twigs. The snake is found in the southwestern United States, Mexico and parts of South America. The vine snake relies on its natural camouflage and venom to snare its prey. Newscom/File

A common tree frog is seen swimming in a pond. Frogs depend on their natural coloration to avoid detection by predators. Newscom/File

A dead-leaf mimic katydid blends in on a branch in Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. Some leaf-mimic katydids can even change color to imitate a leaf in the process of dying: half green and half brown. Newscom/File

An Australian Monitor Lizard peeks out from beind a branch on June 22. Newscom

The larva of a purple emperor butterfly blends in on a leaf. Before its transformation into a butterfly, the purple emperor will undergo a period of pupation inside an equally well camouflaged chrysalis. Newscom/File

A stargazer fish, so named for the eyes on top of its head, buries itself in sand off the Komodo archipelago islands in Indonesia. The fish waits until its prey swims overhead and then darts out from below to catch it. Newscom/File

A De Beaufort's flathead, or crocodile flathead, is seen camouflaged on the seabed off of Papua New Guinea. This predatory fish uses camouflage to remain undetected by its prey. Newscom/File

This leaf-mimic insect disguises itself in as a dead leaf in Borneo's jungles. Newscom/File

Staff Sergeant Anthony R. Purnell, Echo Company, 51st Infantry Company, demonstrates the correct use of the camouflage ghillie suit. A ghillie suit, superior to printed camouflage patterns because of its three-dimensionality and ability to move naturally in the wind, is used by snipers and hunters wishing to avoid detection. Newscom/File